


A Different Angle

by Nny



Series: 2019 Valentine's Requests [5]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: M/M, super suave spy!Bucky
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-15
Updated: 2019-02-15
Packaged: 2019-10-28 21:54:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17795429
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nny/pseuds/Nny
Summary: Bucky growled, subvocal. “You wanted me to be less distracted,” he said, between gritted teeth, “and you thought the best way to achieve this was to send him.”





	A Different Angle

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Kangofu_CB](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kangofu_CB/gifts).



Bucky adjusted his cufflinks and grabbed a glass of champagne from a passing waiter’s tray so he could lift a hand to his mouth without looking suspicious; apparently a throat mic hadn’t gone with what he was wearing, today.

“You’re sending in  _Hawkeye_?”

“You need back up, your target’s seen Natasha before,” Tony said in his ear, sounding breezily unconcerned and, of course, ignoring the directive about using names on comms. “Plus we had a tux in his size.”

He resented Tony’s insinuation that it was that easy to get someone inside. Going in to this mission, they hadn’t been aware that this was where the man was headed, the guest list apparently being only stored in hard copy. Bucky had had to trail him and adapt to the situation that arose. Sure, Clint could take advantage of all the resources at Tony’s disposal;  _Bucky_  had had to climb two walls and a fence, avoid some very persistent dogs, and find and neutralise a guest just exactly his size.

Bucky growled, subvocal. “You wanted me to be less distracted,” he said, between gritted teeth, “and you thought the best way to achieve this was to send  _him_.”

“Did you forget the camera in your glasses? I saw you checking out the brunette in the gold dress, Barnes, and we definitely don’t have time for you to - ”

“Gabriella Elena Del Marco,” Bucky muttered, taking another necessary sip of his champagne. “Ness’s ex-mistress and Vaughan’s current one, and a possible source of information, which you would  _know_  if - weren’t you supposed to do the reading last night?”

“It was one of many things I had to do,” Tony said airily.

“And how come Steve didn’t tell you this? Where  _is_  Steve, for that matter?”

“Sleeping off last night, I’m pretty sure.” Clint’s voice was low and amused. “You can’t blame Tony completely, though, I begged for this pretty hard - I’ve always wanted to be a Bond girl.”

Bucky scanned the crowd, looking for Clint’s distinctive slouch. The ballroom was packed with the criminal elite - or wealthy philanthropic art-lovers, if you didn’t have a wealth of research from an underground intelligence organisation at your fingertips. The room was decorated with understated elegance in ivory and gold, and the focus was intended to be on the carefully curated art pieces that decorated the walls, but the expense and style of the black tuxes and jewel coloured dresses drew the eye.

“Your three o'clock,” Clint murmured in his ear, and Bucky casually turned and then nearly choked on his champagne.

Tux. Tony’d said tux, and Bucky should’ve registered that, because he’d been looking automatically amongst the waiters or - Clint’s usual role - amongst security; Clint had mastered the politely disgruntled expression of a man who wasn’t paid enough for this and whose feet perpetually hurt. Bucky hadn’t expected this, hadn’t expected Clint in a black tux, perfectly tailored, with a slim black tie. Hadn’t expected the perfectly styled hair, the lazy amusement, the way he was casually scanning the men as though they were all his for the taking.

“I’m nailing this, right?” Clint said under his breath, and then caught his eye and gave him an up and down look, completely lacking in anything like subtlety, and dropped him a quick wink. Bucky grimly snagged another glass of champagne; it appeared it was going to be that sort of night.

Aside from keeping an eye on his target, there wasn’t much Bucky could do until Tony had worked out what he was here to steal - or who he was here to meet. He danced with some guests, flirted with others, did his best to keep one eye open for Clint in case of disaster, and was a little put out that Clint didn’t seem to be paying any attention to him at all. It was especially galling because Bucky kept finding his eye corner-caught by him, the new persona Clint had adopted making Bucky see him in an entirely new light.

Or - maybe not entirely new. Maybe it was just a different angle on what he already knew.

Clint had always looked kinda like he oughtta be touched, see; when he was lounging around the tower in holed sweatpants and oversized hooded sweaters, Bucky had always felt like he should laze up close next to him like he used to do with Steve. This was different - this was itchy fingers twitching with how much he wanted to get his hands all over the beautifully cut lines of Clint’s suit, muss him up from head to toe. Clint had always looked beautiful when he smiled at Bucky, too - sweet and goofy when they were playing Mario Kart together, and something far slower and sexier now. Shit, how long had he been thinking about this?

Bucky was relieved when Tony finally,  _finally_  managed to give them something; records of some major contracting work that had taken place on the second floor just over a week before. Bucky didn’t pretend to be listening closely enough to know what the details were, but the overview was that the floors had been reinforced in precisely the way they’d need to be for a particular kind of vault to be installed. If anything was gonna go down tonight, it was pretty unlikely that it wouldn’t go down there.

But how the hell were they gonna find a reason to be on the second floor?

“I have a plan,” Clint said, soft in his ear, “but it is kinda reliant on you not punching me. Think you can manage that?”

“How much am I gonna want to?” Bucky asked, a smile touching the corner of his mouth in spite of his best intentions.

“Eh, maybe twice as much as usual,” Clint said thoughtfully, and Bucky watched him approach him with a twist in his stomach and a small smile on his face that he couldn’t quite hide.

“Hey,” he said, when Clint got up close, and Clint’s smile was somewhere between the old and the new one; goofy and sexy, or maybe slow and sweet. Bucky pushed up into the kiss Clint ducked in for, knowing they’d use this to get up to the second floor eventually, but for now occupied with far better things than Tony squawking in his ear.


End file.
